Machu Picchu

PBS had a show on Machu Picchu one evening that I watched. I had traveled to Machu Picchu but did not know the history or what been discovered by anthropologists after I had visited the ruins. The things I knew about the area were that the area was in Peru, the terraced stone walls did not use mortar and there was an advanced aqueduct system.






The documentary began by letting the viewer know about a remote and mysterious ancient wonder with homes and temples on a one acre grid with water ways and fountains. The place, high on a mountain, was both beautiful and baffling.  How did the builders get the stones up to the top of the mountain? Why was mortar not used and how could the walls continue to stay up? How could the stones be so smooth and fit perfectly like a jig-saw puzzle? The Incas had to be sure-footed and with no fear of heights, as they ran up and down the mountain. The Incas were fierce warriors and could Machu Picchu have been built so high up for protection against enemies? In the past the area was thought to be a place for warriors but in later findings it seems to have been a get away for royal families. It is believed that royalty went to Machu Picchu to get away from their busy lives. One thing stressed in the film was that the Incas were master engineers and rivaled ancient Rome. 

I found it interesting that the Inca civilization was only around for one hundred years. It was possible that disease or the Spanish Conquistadores did away with the Incas. The documentary did show where the stones were chiseled to a smoothness by using another stone. All I could think of was that the Incas must have been very patient. Imagine how long it would take for all those stones to be smoothed out to fit over another stone! The stones are smooth and if there is an earthquake, the stones bounce around but when the shaking is over, the stones land back in their original spot. (Found in Top 10 Machu Picchu Secrets)

Hiram Bingham found the ruins by accident in 1911. He was looking for the site where warriors had their last stronghold. He believed he had found the place but after his death it was proven that the city he was looking for was about fifty miles away. Nobel Prize winner, Pablo Neruda's poem, The Heights of Machu Picchu, changed how Machu Picchu was viewed as the lost city of the Incas to the grand achievement of those who built it.

In a burial place high on the mountain, skulls with holes were found and it was thought the skeletons belonged to women and children. Later it was discovered that because the skeletons were small, explorers made a wrong finding by saying they were women and children. After further study, it was found that the skeletons were both men and women. The holes in the skulls known as Trepanation (making a hole in the skull to improve brain pulsations and hence overall well being per Wikipedia) showed that Incas had knowledge of medical head work.


Without the drainage system devised, the mountain would have eroded every time it rained. The Incas figured that by first placing small rocks and stones, covering them with a sandy layer and finally placing fertile soil on top allowed water to drain and not cause damage to the terraces. I found the program to be informative and interesting and felt a sense of satisfaction that I had wandered through the mysterious wonder of Machu Picchu.